You’re Fired! No Social Strategy in Place

David Oates, VP International of Actiance (www.actiance.com) warned that executives that don’t integrate social media into their business strategy across the board could find themselves out of a job.

Citing growing consumer expectations, losing brand awareness to more agile competitors and a need for increased transparency with stakeholders as key factors, Oates points to the failed high street giants that tried to sidestep ecommerce and says the same fate awaits those that ignore social.

The face of communicating with stakeholders is changing, with social being embraced across all age groups. In the US the fastest growing demographic signing up is the over 65s* and it’s a trend set to come to Europe. Newer devices such as tablets and smartphones have overcome many people’s fear of technology. It’s not a computer anymore, it’s a communication device to Skype with the grandkids, scan QR codes for money off vouchers and download the latest cooking guru’s App. People’s expectation of how they want to communicate is changing rapidly, recent research** found that in the last eight months consumers using social media to communicate with companies has nearly doubled to 36%.

“And the Gen Y group coming forward don’t see traditional communication tools as relevant,” Oates noted. “My 19 year old son rarely emails. I think the last time he used the post was when he eight to send his granny a thank you note at Christmas. He’s indicative of the youth of today, if you want to get his attention, it has to be on social.

“In just the same way that many bricks and mortar businesses ignored the threat of the ecommerce over a decade ago, those that think social won’t matter are mistaken. It might not matter to you, but it does to your customers, partners and employees who see social media and collaboration technology as a natural extension of the way they communicate every day. Companies that don’t have a social culture throughout their business within the next eighteen months risk losing ground to competitive brands.”